


The Messenger of Fell Winds

by Golden_Solidus



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Original Character(s), Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Golden_Solidus/pseuds/Golden_Solidus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While being beaten against a wall at the Northern Air Temple by Zaheer, Ming Hua, and Ghazan, Tenzin blacks out. When he wakes up, he is surrounded by a community of curious monks with arrow tattoos. Somehow, Tenzin has traveled back in time just before the Hundred Years’ War! Although he thrills at the chance to experience the Air Nomad culture he’s always longed for, Tenzin struggles with the knowledge that everything and everyone around him is about to be exterminated by the Fire Lord Sozin’s army. Can he save his people from their horrific fate without erasing his own existence? More importantly, will Tenzin ever be able to return to his own time where his family, Korra, and the new Air Nation desperately need him?</p><p>This time-travel fic is largely canon compliant. Rating may increase later due to wartime violence, but no romantic or sexual content. The plot of this fic is driven by Tenzin's character development, the political circumstances surrounding the approaching Air Nomad Genocide, and the ethical considerations involved in time travel. Questions, comments, and critiques always appreciated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Messenger of Fell Winds

_"Give up. It's over."_   
  
_“As long as I’m still breathing, it’s not over.”_   
  
_Zaheer’s face flickered in slight surprise, and then his expression hardened._   
  
_Tenzin’s eyes closed on reflex as another rock, then another water whip, and another blast of air pummeled his already bruised and bleeding body. His vision started to blur and everything began to feel fuzzy, even as his bones jarred and his skin howled with every abrasion. His cries grew fainter and fainter as each one tore through his dry throat. No one was coming to save him. He was going to die here, against this wall. Korra needed him. His family needed him. The world needed him to mitigate the threat of the Red Lotus, and he had failed them._   
  
_“I’m… sorry.”_   
  
_Tenzin’s eyes rolled back in his head as his legs gave out from under him. A blast of air accelerated his fall to the ground. As his head hit the stone beneath him, everything faded to black oblivion._

* * *

“Kalsang! Kalsang, come look! There’s a strange man lying here on the ground!”  
  
“Whoa! Well, he’s clearly an airbending master. Have you ever seen him before?”  
  
“I don’t think so. What’s he doing down here, anyway? Aren’t all the elders at the council meeting?”  
  
“Yeah, they are. Look, I know we’re not supposed to disturb them unless there’s an emergency, but I’d say that this qualifies as an emergency. It looks like he collapsed against this wall.”  
  
“You’re right. Chophel! Hey, Chophel! Run and alert the elders! Somebody passed out down here!”  
  
 “Oh Spirits, he’s waking up!”  
  
Lights and sounds slowly faded into Tenzin’s consciousness as though he were tuning a radio to hear the nightly news on Air Temple Island. He opened his eyes and squinted against the bright sunlight. There were some human shaped blurs moving around him, but he couldn’t make out who they were. He couldn’t remember anything about where he was or what he had been doing. The last thing he could remember was grooming the coats of some of the baby bison when Meelo had run outside and alerted him that Korra was on the radio and it was urgent…  
  
“Zaheer!”  
  
Tenzin’s entire body suddenly jolted into full awareness as a massive wave of adrenalin rushed through his veins and memories of fighting the Red Lotus flashed rapidly through his mind. He hardly noticed that his skin was no longer bleeding and that his broken ribs were miraculously intact. Without pause, Tenzin instinctively lashed out in a fierce circular air blast, knocking all of the figures around him back several yards. Their screams of surprise and terror, far too high pitched to be those of his three nemeses, barely registered.  
  
“I’m still breathing! You will never get to Korra!” Yet even as he said this, a wave of nausea and dizziness hit him with the force of a Satomobile. Unable to get to his feet, Tenzin collapsed to the ground, hazily watching several tattooed figures running towards him before darkness swept over him once again.

* * *

When he regained consciousness once more, Tenzin found sitting on a chair in a small atrium inside the Northern Air Temple. His wrists and ankles were bound tightly, and a mouth gag prevented him from making a sound. Had he been captured by Zaheer and left here? Tenzin took note of his physical condition and was shocked by how healthy he felt. Had Ming Hua healed him to keep him alive? Did such a dark, vicious waterbender even know how to heal severe wounds? Tenzin had been sure he was going to die. How was he sitting here, alive and apparently well, with the Red Lotus nowhere in sight?  
  
Tenzin recognized the room, but was rather mystified by its contents. This room was used as a storage closet for what remained of the Mechanist’s equipment at the temple. The interior had not been touched in decades, and was covered in chipped paint and cobwebs. Now, however, the room was bright and clean, containing nothing else other than a table with a pitcher of water and several prayer rugs aligned geometrically along the floor. Tenzin stared longingly at the pitcher of water. His mouth felt as dry as the Si Wong desert. Maybe after he had had a drink he could figure out what was going on. Although he was incapable of freeing himself, at least he seemed to be in no immediate danger at the moment.  
  
Just then, the door opened and several grim faced elder men filed into the room. Tenzin’s jaw dropped. All of the men were wearing traditional Air Nomad attire and inscribed pendants around their necks. More importantly, they were all bald and bearded with unmistakable blue arrow tattoos on their heads. Tenzin’s mind whirled. This was impossible. Only master Airbenders received tattoos, as he had explained time and time again to several overeager Air Acolytes. Tenzin had not seen such tattoos anywhere other than a mirror since his father’s death nearly two decades ago. Who were these men who dared to mock one of his culture’s most sacred traditions?  
  
The tallest of the men nodded and addressed him first. “Good. You are awake. Jampa, please remove the gag and give him some water.” A young man, bald and wearing yellow and orange student attire, hurriedly stepped out from behind the elders and poured a glass of water, tearing the cloth away and bringing it to Tenzin’s lips without making eye contact. Tenzin eagerly swallowed every drop in relief. Trembling, the young man quickly returned the pitcher to the table and scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
“Now,” the tall man continued, “we ask that you inform us at once of your identity, how you ended up unconscious in the courtyard, and why you attacked several of our students. We cannot free you until we receive a satisfactory explanation.”  
  
Tenzin frowned as he tried to make sense of these puzzling words. “Do you really not know who I am? I am Tenzin, and unlike all of you, I earned these tattoos through years of rigorous airbending training. Who are you to mock such a sacred cultural tradition? If this is some ploy by Zaheer to manipulate me, you can tell him that it will never work! And if he hurts my family or Korra, I will hunt him to the ends of the earth!”  
  
The assembled elders exchanged perturbed glances. The tall one spoke again. “You speak as though mad. How dare you insult the Airbending mastery of the high council of the Northern Air Temple?! Your aggression is deeply disturbing as well. If you behaved as such at the Southern Temple, it is little wonder why you ended up here in such a state. Where is your bison? Have you come to seek formal asylum? I warn you, although we in the North are a patient and merciful community, we simply cannot tolerate those who do not embrace a pacifistic way of life.”         
  
These words made even less sense than the previous ones. High council? Tenzin remembered having learned about the typical Air Nomad form of governance from his father’s lessons; in fact, Republic City’s former council was based upon such a model. Asylum? Also an Air Nomad tradition. Yet how would Red Lotus minions possibly know so much about his peoples’ historical customs? He supposed Zaheer might have taught them from his tireless research, but even so, the situation was still extremely bizarre. These men spoke as if these institutions existed right now and showed no recognition of his name, Zaheer, or even Avatar Korra. Not to mention that their attire and tattoos looked extremely authentic- how would anyone else in the world outside the Air Acolytes know how to make airbender clothing or set the complex arrow designs properly? And of course there was the matter of the changed state of this very room, which he had entered just two days ago looking for some metal scraps to fix the radio antenna. There were still far too many variables for Tenzin to make sense of his circumstances. Perhaps it would be best to play the fool for now until he knew more.  
  
Tenzin shook his head and schooled his features to look somewhat dazed. “Forgive me. I thought if I spouted some nonsense in a confident manner, you might let me go. The truth is that I have no idea how I ended up here or who I am besides my name. My head hurts terribly; perhaps I was concussed by a blunt object and lost my memory. When I first woke up, I was confused and disoriented. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and I am truly sorry that I did. If what you say is true, I am probably from the Southern Air Temple, although I have no recollection of my life there or why I came here. Would you be willing to help me?”  
  
There, Tenzin thought. They probably expected him to persist in confused denial, but by playing into their ruse, perhaps he would disarm these men enough to cause them to break character and tell him who they really were.  
  
The elders consulted among themselves in whispers. After several moments, the tall one addressed Tenzin again. “Very well. Based on your physical condition, your story does seem plausible. Furthermore, as you are clearly a master airbender, it is not proper to suspect you of any foul play. We will send a message to the Southern Air Temple asking them to confirm your identity. Since this process will take several weeks, you will be permitted to remain here among us until we learn more. However, as a precaution, you will be monitored by a guard at all times until we can be sure that you pose no threat to our community. Are these terms acceptable to you?”  
  
No! Tenzin thought. He could not possibly remain here for several weeks, not with the Earth Kingdom in post-assassination chaos and his family and students trapped and Korra on the run from the Red Lotus. But if he pushed that point, it would destroy his amnesiac cover and perhaps cause these temperamental individuals to leave him tied to this chair. If he agreed to their terms, they would at least let him leave this room. Then, he might be able to escape, find Kya and Bumi, and go stop Zaheer before he reached Korra.  
  
“I accept. Thank you for your kindness.”  
  
The elders all turned to leave the room. “Jampa! Untie the stranger, please, and see to his comfort. He will be staying in Duga’s old quarters for now.” As the young man entered, looking slightly less nervous this time, the tall one addressed Tenzin again. “This is Jampa. He has mastered 24 tiers of airbending and is one of the best students in his age group. He will look after you for now.” Jampa used a jagged rock to cut through the ropes binding Tenzin’s hands and feet. He then made a small gust of air to remove the dust from the ends of Tenzin’s robes.  
  
Tenzin gasped. This boy really was an airbender! Which meant that the elders likely were too. Which meant...  
  
As Jampa led him outside, Tenzin’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he took in the vibrant buildings, lush vegetation, abundant lemurs and bison, and bald monks gliding, working, and meditating.  
  
…there was no other possible explanation. He was really here, with real Air Nomads thriving in their ancestral home, as though the Hundred Years’ War had never happened. Because, Tenzin reasoned in stunned disbelief, it _hadn’t_. Not yet. And somehow, someway, he had ended up here in a different time, a different life, to see something he had only ever dreamed about. Losing _this_ had been the source of grief in his father’s eyes his entire life. Tenzin felt tears running down his cheeks. He was among his long lost people. He… was home.  
  
But what was 'home' without Pema? What was 'home' with Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan? What was 'home' without Kya and Bumi and his mother? What was 'home' without Lin Beifong, the woman who had sacrificed everything for his family, or Oogi, his beloved sky bison? What was 'home' in a world without Avatar Aang, his legendary father, or Avatar Korra, the young woman he had grown to love as a daughter? Who was he if not Tenzin, the leader of the new Air Nation and protector of peace and balance in a rapidly modernizing world?  
  
As fumbling young Jampa led him through hallways that were strange yet so familiar, Tenzin's emotions seesawed between elation and panic. As incredible as this opportunity was to live among and experience the culture he had given his life to resurrecting firsthand, he knew he would have to do whatever it took to get back to his own time as soon as possible. How was he here? More importantly, why had this happened to him? Were the spirits involved? Of course! That was it! Tenzin silently vowed to himself that at the earliest opportunity, he would meditate into the Spirit World and find some desperately needed answers.    


End file.
